I recently completed a three-year term at the American Academy in Rome, where I was Andrew Heiskell Arts Director and then Interim Director, charged with advancing the creative and scholarly work of Rome Prize winners, supporting a diverse professional and residential community, and fostering engagement with the cultural and intellectual life of Rome and Italy.

I reside in New York City, where I am working on a new book, On the Street of the Hidden Shops: A Metaphoric Archaeology of Rome, a deep history of the many stories hidden within the space of a single city block (University of Chicago Press). I am also writing several essays concerning the politics of material heritage: the objects we protect and preserve, the stories we tell about them, and the way those stories get shared.

I am the author of Gentile Bellini’s Portrait of Sultan Mehmed II: Lives and Afterlives of an Iconic Image (I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury, 2020), which has been described as evoking “both a memoire and a mystery novel” (Lia Markey).

I am a frequent speaker and meeting convener, and have been part of numerous advisory panels to museums and university departments. I am active in the College Art Association, having served on the Museum Committee and as a field editor and editorial board member for caa.reviews.

My consulting clients have included Smith College, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the Getty Research Institute, and I am a frequent reviewer for academic presses and journals. I am available for freelance writing projects about cultural heritage, art history, museums, and more.

Explore my website and contact me for more information.

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